Stargzer wrote:I agree with Tim that to school, in school, and at school imply that one is attending classes. To the school, in the school, and at the school imply that one is at a particular school/building.

Telephone conversations:

"May I speak with Sarah?""No, she's at school right now." ==> Implies that Sarah is in class, either learning or teaching or doing some other work. This is similar to "No, she's at work right now."

"May I speak with Sarah?""No she's up at the school right now." ==> Implies that Sarah is somewhere on the school grounds. She could be playing or coaching a sport, in an after-school club, attending a parent-teacher conference or other meeting, or, like my fool wife, doing some non-paid work on a weekend, such as putting up a new bulletin board, because they won't give her time to do it during the week.

Also "the school" used as above would indicate in the US that the speaker and speakee both know exactly which school is referred to, while "in school" means what the person is doing rather than where they are located right now.

"In hospital" is to my ears always heard from UK and Canada, and feels like it's a more experiential term, like "in pain", whereas the USian "in the hospital" feels like it's physically localising the subject.

I'm surprised this post didn't open the floodgates for US/UK variations in general...

For all we bemoan the homogenising effect of media, how much does it also open our ears to 'what else is out there'... a great many British expressions have come to these ears via the likes of The Beatles or Monty Python's Flying Circus, e.g. "left it too late" (in "I'm a Loser).

Strange to think that in the early '60s Capitol Records resisted releasing Beatles music in the US as being "too British"(!).

How do you choose the hospital that you will have your baby at? Hi. I live in Chicago, I am pregnant, and don't know yet which hospital I am gonna give birth at. Can you give me some insights on how to choose the hospital? What should I look for? How can I determine that one hospital is better than the other? Thanks in advance!
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roseanna wrote:How do you choose the hospital that you will have your baby at? Hi. I live in Chicago, I am pregnant, and don't know yet which hospital I am gonna give birth at. Can you give me some insights on how to choose the hospital? What should I look for? How can I determine that one hospital is better than the other? Thanks in advance!

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In general I'm Pro-life, but as Fr. Mike would have said in Freshman Biology class back in 1965, "roseanna, if only we could make abortion retroactive!"

Regards//Larry

"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them." -- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee